Final Salute

Kalven D. Simbro, 70, of Baxter, died on Monday, January 31, 2022, at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. A funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, February 5, 2022, at the Wallace Family Funeral Home and Crematory. The family will greet friends from 4-7 p.m., Friday, February 4, at the funeral home. Memorials to the Baxter Fire Department may be left at the funeral home.

Kalven, the son of Clifford and Patricia (Marshall) Simbro, was born on June 1, 1951 in Des Moines. His family lived in multiple locations in Iowa before they made their home in Newton. He graduated from Newton High School in 1969. Kalven then graduated from DMACC in Ankeny with a degree in Diesel Mechanics. Kalven served his country in the US Navy from 1972-1976. He was member of the Navy Seabees stationed at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. After returning from the service, Kalven was united in marriage with Beth Kreager on August 21, 1977. In 1983, they made their home in Baxter. Kalven met many people and worked at several places as a mechanic throughout the years, most notably B&N Implement, Newton Implement, and Titan Machinery, where he retired from in May of 2017.

Kalven was a member of the IHC – Chapter 5, Iowa Firearms Coalition, and Farm Bureau. He proudly served on the Baxter Volunteer Fire Department for 32 years, from 1985-2017. Even after retirement he would still attend meetings and helped the fire department in any way he could. Kalven loved time with family and friends including Sunday coffee time at Smitty’s, morning coffee at Donnie Wormley’s, and stopping at Bill Zeger’s shop. He also enjoyed going to the farm and watching wildlife, tinkering in the garage, and mowing at the “40″ or at the farm. His other interests included steam trains, camping, deer hunting, watching westerns and anything International Harvester. Kalven was honored to go on the 2011 Jasper County Freedom Flight. He was extremely proud of his children, Andy and Erica, and his greatest joy of all was his grandson, Lincoln.

Those left to honor Kalven’s memory are his wife, Beth of Baxter; daughter, Erica Simbro of Des Moines; son, Andy (Larissa) Simbro of rural Newton; grandson, Lincoln James Simbro; his siblings, Joyce (Jerry) Kingery of Newton, Kris (Sandy) Simbro of Newton, Carroll (Jill) Simbro of Newton, Steve Smith of Baxter, and Merle Smith of Newton; his brother-in-law, Jim Kreager of Newton; sister-in-law, Barbara Berry of Baxter; and his many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; father and mother-in-law, Robert and Dorothy Kreager; sisters-in-law, Shari Simbro and Janie Smith; and brother-in-law, Jan Berry.